AAdvantage® MileUp Card Review: A Mediocre Option for Earning AA Miles With No Annual Fee

The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card is an okay option with no annual fee and a few benefits. It earns 2X on AA purchases and at grocery stores. If you're trying to earn AA miles in as many ways as possible, then you might consider adding this card to your collection. Otherwise, there are better options for benefits. However, for those wanting to earn miles with no annual fee, you might be interested.

Chase Freedom Flex Card Review: A Worthy Addition to Your Chase Card Lineup

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is a strong earner in the Ultimate Rewards family of cards. It offers many of the best benefits of the Chase Freedom® and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® — including no annual fee and generous spending categories. In addition, the Freedom Flex comes with a unique set of benefits, from complimentary cell phone protection to savings with Lyft and DoorDash.

Does Adding a Credit Card Improve Your Credit Score?

One of the more confusing aspects of rewards travel is how applying for credit cards affects your credit score. Conventional wisdom has it that applying for more credit cards will negatively affect your credit score, and is somehow frowned upon by lenders and credit providers. But that’s not the case. A strong credit file with many credit accounts and a proven history of on-time payments is exactly what creditors want.

Add Authorized Users to Your Credit Cards, Get Bonus Points or Miles

Sign-up bonuses are a crucial part of the points and miles puzzle, but they’re not the only way of banking a substantial balance of rewards points. Other methods include signing up for regular promotions offered by credit card providers and loyalty programs, taking advantage of generous referral bonuses (which can bring in upwards of 50K points per year), and — on select credit cards — scoring bonus points for adding an authorized user to your account.